Dry-kiln gage.



L. J. SCHWEIGER.

DRY KILN GAGE.

APPLICATION man APR. s, 1914.

Patented May 1915.

WW/TNESSES:

LAWRENCE J. SCHWEIGER, OF'KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

DRY-KILN GAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1915.

Application filed April 6, 1914. Serial No. 829,859.

T0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE J. SoHwEL GER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dry-Kiln Gages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in kiln testing instruments, and my object is to provide a simple, inexpensive device of this character, adapted to be slipped into a pile of lumber for the purpose of accurately determining when the same has been sufliciently subjected to the heat of a kiln to attain the desired degree of dryness.

The invention is based on the well-lmown fact that wood expands and contracts laterally to its grain to a much greater extent than it expands and contracts longitudinally of its grain, and in order that the invention may be fully understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawing, 1n which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the instrument. Fig. 2 is a broken side elevation, partly in section of the instrument. Fig. 3 is a broken central, longitudinal, section on line III--III of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a cross section on line IV-IV of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a cross section on line V-V of Fig. 3.

In practice, I employ a casing l tapered at its forward end 2 and provided near its rear end with a sight-opening 3 in the form of a longitudinal slot having bevel sides 4L, one of which has a scale 5 thereon to register the dryness of the lumber tested with the instrument.

I prefer to make the casing l of wood although it may be made of metal and its tapered forward end 2 enables it to be readily slipped into a pile of lumber after placing the samev in a kiln to eliminate moisture. TWhen the casing 1 is made of wood it is formed longitudinally with the grain, so that there will be but little expansion or contraction when subjected to the heat of the kiln.

6 designates a stick fitting loosely within the casing, so that it may contract or expand freely therein, one end of said stick being firmly secured to one end of the casing by a screw 7, or other suitable means. By thus securing one end of the stick to the casing, all movement of said stick occasioned by the expansion or contraction thereof will occur at its free end visible through the sight-opening 8, hence the degree of expansion or contraction and the consequent condition of the lumber in the kiln can be readily ascertained by noting the location of the free end of the stick with relation to the scale 5.

In order to gain suiiicient movement of the free end of the stick, due to the expansion and contraction ofthe latter, I form said stick from one or more pieces of wood with the grain running laterally to the length of the stick, and in order that the heat and moisture within the kiln may be readily aocessible to the stick to expand or contract the same, I provide the longitudinal sides of the casing l with perforations 8 leading to the stick 6. As near as possible the openings 8 in one side of the casing are alternately arranged with respect to the openings at the opposite side, so that air within the kiln may become more uniformly distributed over the surface of the stick than if the openings were directly opposite each other. Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

An instrument of the class described comprising a casing having one end tapered for ready insertion in a pile of lumber, a sight opening having associated therewith a scale, formed in one wall of the casing and adjacent the other end thereof, a stick free to expand or contract longitudinally and mounted in the casing and having its end adjacent the tapered end of the casing fixed thereto, the free end of the stick being adapted to register with degrees of the scale during its expansion or contraction, said casing having its walls provided with non-registering perforations for directing heat to the stick, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

LAWRENCE J. SGI-IVEIGER.

Witnesses:

F. G. FISCHER, R. E. HAMILTON.

Uopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0; 

